A Thousand Years in the Library
by Last of the Loneliness
Summary: Wan Shi Tong slowly loses faith as he watches humans misuse knowledge-except for those few humans permitted to live in the library. A series of one-shots centered around Wan Shi Tong's library.


_A Thousand Years in the Library: Yong Wen and the Knowledge Seekers_

"_I am Wan Shi Tong, he who knows ten thousand things, and this is my library."_

The desert moves with time. Wind shapes the dunes so that they constantly shift and change form. The desert one sees today will not be the same desert one sees tomorrow. During the day, the sand burns with as much heat as an oven. At night, this barren landscape can freeze.

A thousand years ago, the walls of Ba Sing Se had not yet risen. The four nations rarely touched each other, for journeys across the sea would take far too long. In the North, Tui and La circled each other, in the East, an airbending Avatar was born, and Wan Shi Tong had created his library in the heart of the Earth Kingdom.

Even before it was buried, few knew of the Library. The nomadic sandbenders who roamed the deserts discovered it, but Wan Shi Tong chased them away. They did not come for knowledge. They came for riches.

Yong Wen was born sickly. His mother died of complications of childbirth. His father had been wealthy, but his sadness led him to squander his money. When Yong Wen was fourteen, his father died of drink.

His legs were crippled from a childhood illness. Many of the other men in the village became warriors, serving the fiefdom for gold. But Yong Wen couldn't. He stayed at home and studied the written language until he could write and read it himself. He served the local lord as a scribe. He documented every battle, every victory, every loss.

And in between his writings, Yong Wen began to dream. Though he could not walk without the aid of crutches, in his dreams he traveled throughout the four nations and beyond. He saw sights more incredible than anything he could imagine while waking. So, when he awoke, he began to paint his findings. He filled one book with sketches and notes, then a second, then a third.

One night, Yong Wen awoke in the dark. He was not alone in his room. There was an animal in the window, a framed silhouette with pointed ears and a long snout.

It jumped from the window and ran across the room, where it picked up one of Yong Wen's books. He sat up in bed, staring at it. It whined and jumped back out of the window.

Yong Wen stared after it for many long seconds before standing, grabbing his crutches, and pulling on a robe. He put on his sandals and left his home with nothing but his crutches and the clothes on his back.

The fox was waiting for him outside. It wagged its tail to see him and set off again, trotting out of the village. Though he was undoubtedly awake, Yong Wen felt as if he was in one of his dreams.

For a month and then longer Yong Wen followed the creature across the Earth Kingdom. Whenever he grew hungry, the fox would bring him meat or fruit. When he was tired, he would sleep, and awaken to see it sitting near him again, his book in its mouth.

And after what seemed like a lifetime, Yong Wen stood on the desert sands and looked up at Wan Shi Tong's library.

He entered the door and looked up to see floor upon floor stretching on to darkness. But though all of the building had appeared to be exposed outside, when he looked down, there seemed to be infinite floors there too.

The fox had disappeared, but a large shadow stretched over Yong Wen's head.

"I am Wan Shi Tong. How did you come to my library?"

When he looked up to see the owl, Yong Wen could do nothing but collapse to his knees. "Great spirit, I am Yong Wen. A fox appeared in my room one eve and took one of my books. I followed him here for weeks."

"I see." Wan Shi Tong paused and let out a low screech that shook the ground underneath Yong Wen's body. A few instants later, the fox had reappeared. Wan Shi Tong took the book from its mouth. Something akin to surprise registered in the owl's dark eyes. "…You have had dreams of the spirit world."

"I have?" Yong Wen lifted his head. "I didn't know. I simply drew what I saw."

"You are a unique human." Wan Shi Tong swiveled his head. "Perhaps it was fate for you to come here. But here is your work." He placed it in front of Yong Wen. "Now be free to go."

"No, please, great spirit!" Yong Wen scrambled to his feet. "I do not know how to get home, and I don't want to return. This place is more than I could ever dream. I could not read all of these volumes in a lifetime, but I wish to read from your collection. Please, let me stay!"

Wan Shi Tong looked down, unreadable. "I can see your honesty in your eyes. Are you truly a human who appreciates knowledge for itself?"

"…I don't know." Yong Wen bowed his head. "I have spent my whole life as a scribe. My legs are useless and my people value only strength. But here, I can learn answers to all the mysteries of the world without having to run through it."

"Then stay," Wan Shi Tong rumbled. "Stay forever. But only on one condition."

"Yes?" Yong Wen's eyes were shining with eagerness.

"You may never set foot in the outside world again." Apparently restless, Wan Shi Tong took wing, flying in a circle about the ceiling before he landed back down again, surprisingly lightly. "My knowledge seekers will bring you food and water. But the knowledge contained here is not just information of this world, but that of the spirit world. This library exists in both planes."

Yong Wen's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, an expression Wan Shi Tong caught.

"After living here for a long time, you will begin to lose your human roots. You will slowly adapt to the spiritual essence of this place. I believe humans refer to that as immortality, do they not?"

"I will live forever?" Yong Wen sounded alarmed. Living out the rest of his life in this place seemed well enough, but eternity was a very long time.

"I suppose we'll see." Wan Shi Tong's voice was indifferent. "I am really only hypothesizing. But human, rest assure that my collection will keep you entertained for as long as you live."

Was there really anything to consider? Yong Wen thought of his dreams of the spirit world and his pitiful life as a scribe before he closed his eyes. "It would be an honor to stay here, no matter how long I live."

"Then be welcome." Wan Shi Tong turned away. "Ah, and one more thing." He rotated his head around to view Yong Wen. "There is no need to call me 'great spirit.' My name will do."

Before Yong Wen could offer thanks or say anything at all, Wan Shi Tong had flown down, into the farthest reaches of the library.

A week later, Yong Wen had holed himself up in the southwest wing. He was sleeping using books as pillow and blanket, except for those rare nights when the knowledge seekers curled up with him. After a week of reading a bookcase on them, Yong Wen knew more about the ostrich-horse than any other human.

The knowledge seekers fetched Yong Wen's other volumes from his home, and on the rare lonely nights where his favorite volume of poetry did not lull him to sleep, he turned the pages one by one and fell asleep still dreaming about the spirit world.

Yong Wen watched people come and go from the library. Some saw him, some spoke with him. Most of the time he stayed in the shadows.

The first time he saw Wan Shi Tong kill was when a man from the Water Tribes came to the library searching for information on making a war machine that could decimate villages from the sea. He did not tell Wan Shi Tong of his intentions. He told Yong Wen, and Yong Wen told the owl.

There was blood and then the man's body became an ornament in one of the columns. Before he died, Yong Wen would see thousands more join him.

Only a few years after that incident, an entire group of scholars from the southern part of the Earth Kingdom arrived, claiming to be researching a rare plant. Wan Shi Tong allowed them entry, and they left after only a few hours.

The next day, Yong Wen ran through the halls, shouting for the spirit. At last Wan Shi Tong appeared, swooping down on wing to join him.

"What is it, Yong Wen?"

"One of the knowledge seekers showed me to the eastern wing. An entire shelf of books on metal alloys is missing!"

Wan Shi Tong let out a deafening screech. "The scholars lied. They always lie. They say they only want to learn, and instead they steal my knowledge for evil purposes. I will send out the knowledge seekers to recover the books, but the damage is done."

Yong Wen remained very quiet and very still. The owl's rage was unpredictable and violent.

"Humans only appreciate knowledge in its application for destruction," Wan Shi Tong said quietly. "Yong Wen, you are a rare exception. Your species is volatile."

A hundred and fifty years after Yong Wen arrived at the library, that day Wan Shi Tong, in his anger, sank the library a few feet down into the sand.

* * *

A/N: Hello! This is going to be a series of five one-shots centered around Wan Shi Tong and his library. I hope you enjoy! Hopefully the next one will be up soon!


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